Video games have become a major component of the entertainment industry over the years. As many know, a lot of the big titles come from companies all over the world. As an international industry, the companies make an effort to sell their games in other countries. However, not every game makes it out of their home country.

This is especially common with games coming out of Japan. While there are several reasons a game does not make it overseas, it is especially painful when it is part of a popular series. Here are some major examples of games that were not localized.

Ace Attorney Investigations 2

This game is a follow up to “Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth” for the Nintendo 3DS. This “Ace Attorney” spin-off focuses on Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth as he investigates crimes to prepare a case for court. While other games in the series comprise of a series of unrelated cases, this one has a coherent overarching plot with Edgeworth dealing with claims that he is no longer worthy of his position and the possibility that he would be better as a defense attorney.

According to a statement by Capcom, the game was not released as it was believed that the costs of localization would be greater than the expected profits. This may have to do with the fact that the first “Investigations” was heavily pirated. Due to the lack of an official release, a fan translation has since been released.

Fire Emblem

For most of this series life, the games were exclusive to Japan. In addition to uncertainty about whether the games would sell, they were very heavy on text  and would be expensive to localize. Outside of an obscure anime adaptation, the western world’s first taste of the series came when Marth, the protagonist of the first game, “Fire Emblem: Dark Dragons and the Blade of Light” for Famicom,  and Roy, the protagonist of the then upcoming “Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade” for Game Boy Advance, appeared in “Super Smash Bros. Melee.”

It turns out that a few years later, Nintendo localized “Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword” as simply “Fire Emblem.” The game was a huge hit, resulting in Nintendo then consistently releasing games outside of Japan. They even brought over a remake of “Dark Dragons and the Blade of Light” for Nintendo DS, simply called “Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon.”

However, there was a snag in the trend when “Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem – Heroes of Light and Shadow” was not localized. This was a shame as it was a remake of the third game in the series, so the west was denied the game a second time. It even included new material, including the first appearance of a customizable Avatar. As for why the game was not translated, it was because it was released so late in the DS’s life span that the 3DS had been released and had most of Nintendo’s attention.

Fortunately, this was just a one-time occurrence as the following game in the series “Fire Emblem: Awakening” was released worldwide to critical acclaim and sold extremely well. Furthermore, the next game “Fire Emblem Fates” will be released in America on Feb. 19, 2016.

Mother 3

This sequel to “Earthbound” has quite a long history. Originally planed for the Super Famicom, it then made the transitioned Nintendo 64 Disk Drive. The game was moved to the standard Nintendo 64 after the failure of the Disk Drive and planned for a worldwide release under the title “Earthbound 64.” However, development was scrapped and the localization along with it. The game was later revived and eventually released on Game Boy Advance in April 2006, right at the end of the system’s life span.

The late release and the sheer amount of text resulted in the game not being localized. Two years later, the fan site Starmen.net released a translation patch. After the re-release of “Earthbound” on Wii U’s Virtual Console and the announcement that Game Boy Advance games would be added to the service, the leader of the project, Clyde “Tomato” Mandelin offered to let Nintendo use his translation for free if it meant an official release of “Mother 3.” The company refused to do so, even though they knew about the project but decided not to intervene. As a result, the only official exposure the game received outside of Japan is the presence of the game’s protagonist, Lucas, in “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” and later “Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS.”

Tales series

The “Tales” series has been inconsistent in terms of localization. The first game to make it out of Japan, “Tales of Destiny” for the Playstation, was the second game in the series. However, it was notably very sloppy. The next game “Tales of Eternia” was localized as “Tales of Destiny 2″with a far improved translation.

However, there were still some main series games that did not make it over here. The actual “Tales of Destiny 2” did not see the light of day in the west. Nor did “Tales of Rebirth” as Namco was convinced by earlier games failure to sell that Americans did not care about 2D “Tales” games. The first 3D game in the series, “Tales of Symphonia” was released on the Gamecube and was a commercial success.

However, the following games, “Tales of Legendia” and “Tales of the Abyss,” did not sell well in the U.S. as they were released in the shadows of Final Fantasy. This may have led to the decision not to release the DS game, “Tales of Innocence” in America. “Tales of Hearts,” for the same system also met this fate, but it its Playstation Vita remake “Tales of Hearts R” was localized. Meanwhile, “Tales of Innocence R” for the same system has not been localized.

Aside from those game, Namco Bandai has been consistent in releasing the “Tales” series worldwide.

Sometimes, a game does get rereleased worldwide. For example, Nintendo finally brought “Mother 1” to the West in on Wii U Virtual Console under the name “Earthbound Beginnings.” So there is always the possibility for a release further down the line. As such, there may still be a chance to play the game as an official release.